Expectant parents curious to know the sex of their fetus during ultrasound examinations are now being asked to pay $50 at some hospitals, but the charge could eventually expand across regions.

The "gender determination" fee has been newly implemented at Lions Gate and Richmond General hospitals following a pilot project at the latter.

The knicker-twisty 'problem' is that members of 'some communities' may be aborting fetuses of the wrong (i.e. female) gender and the Big Daddies don't approve of this.

But how would a smallish fee deter someone from abortion?

Trick question. It doesn't. Because even when the fee is paid, the information is still withheld!

"The ultrasound staff will not disclose this information to the patient. Rather, [the pregnant patient] will obtain it from the referring physician after 20 weeks gestation [when abortion is no longer an available option]."

The time period after which such information is disclosed is important to prevent women from aborting if they are disappointed by the news of the gender of their fetus. In some countries, such as India and China, millions of female fetuses are aborted each year.

Anna Marie D'Angelo, spokeswoman for Vancouver Coastal Health, said patients must sign a disclaimer before the ultrasound acknowledging that the ultrasound technician may make a mistake in gender determination.

"Right or wrong, no one gets their money back. But they will get a refund if the sonographer can't make a determination, based on the way the baby is positioned."

Hmm. Maybe the hospital administrators want to horn in on a source of extra cash that may now be going to sonographers with particularly expressive faces. Because we all know that when information is valuable, someone will put a price on it, and someone else will pay it.

At one time some Eskimos left girl babies to die in the snow.Other cultures we know of who value boys have also seen girls as disposable, and mothers who didnot birth a boy were viewed as rather useless.I wonder what will happen to these girls and women.?